You don’t have to be an Oxbridge-educated linguist correctly to translate “Splendido” into English. All too often, combining such a word with “hotel” conjures up images of seedy seaside B&Bs where discovering a hair on the soap is viewed as a stroke of unexpected luck, but this glorious Italian villa stays true to the Latin roots of the word: four lustrous, sun-drenched storeys reflecting sunlight down onto the Italian fishing village of Portofino throughout long summer days. The hotel has played host to the cream of Hollywood’s thespian talent for the last 60 years, with the guest book reading like a “who’s married who” of the acting profession. The secluded location, naturally shielded from the rest of the world by the Ligurian hillside on which it’s delicately perched, has drawn nobility and celebrity alike, seduced by the notion of living out a real-life version of La Dolce Vita in maximum privacy. In the semi-tropical terraced gardens Richard Burton proposed to Elizabeth Taylor, Humphrey Bogart wooed Lauren Bacall, and the vibrant beauty of the region has kindled more romantic activity than Cilla Black could ever dream of arranging; legend has it that Rex Harrison, who owned a villa a little further up the hill, popped out for a packet of cigarettes during a somewhat dreary conversation with the Duke Of Windsor, met the stunning actress Kay Kendall, and immediately eloped with her, leaving the Duke twiddling his thumbs.

Although the glory days of the 1950s and 60s have passed, the place has lost none of its glamour, allowing you to saunter nonchalantly around with sunglasses perched upon your head, living up to your new-found VIP status. The staff greet everyone as an old friend whom they remember with great affection and you get the feeling that, if you’re a guest here, even the most flagrant transgressions of taste or decency would be rewarded with a warm smile and heartfelt congratulation. Within minutes of arriving you’ll be sipping champagne and nibbling miniscule olives on the terrace, with the gentle fragrance of frangipani, jasmine and pine wafting gently around you – and not from those little white blocks you plug into the mains, either. To remain unobtrusive, it’s best to adopt that kind of well-groomed nonchalance that allows loafers to be worn without socks, and the collar of your Briani shirt to be turned up in a way which doesn’t suggest for a moment that you merely forgot to turn it down.

The understated classiness of the clientele is matched perfectly by the décor of the rooms, with grandeur and fantasy eschewed for stylish sophistication. Wooden floors and sober pastel colours are complimented by images of Portofino painted by local artists and from your window you’re likely to have a view of the bay that will allow you to check that your yacht hasn’t been clamped by the local council. If you ever needed to be helped out of such a tricky situation you would turn to Fausto Allegri, the bushy-eyebrowed guest relations manager who, despite having retired in 1999, still busies himself coping with the impulsive whims of his tenants. As an expert on guarding the privacy of the rich and famous his discretion is guaranteed, although he admits that it’s tough keeping a visit from Madonna or Sting under wraps when they arrive with the size of entourage that would normally be associated with that of a travelling circus.

Another ideal way of keeping an eye on the goings on in Portofino bay would be while having a simple dish of trofi with pesto at La Terrazza Restaurant. Understated food of the local region is the hotel’s speciality, with a mean antipasti buffet featuring freshly caught fish, or woodfired pizzas at the poolside bar. After dinner another regular character, the head barman Antonio Beccalli, comes into his own. White-haired, bespectacled and as slim as a whippet, he demonstrates more than a talent for mixing drinks when he commandeers a mike to sing medleys of Barry Manilow hits, while wealthy, middle-aged Europeans sashay around to the strains of Copacabana.

Whether you’re hiring the hotel speedboat for a day visiting the villages of Cinque Terre, or purging yourself of your sins at the newly-opened Health & Wellbeing centre, you just know you’ll come away feeling like a million euros. And thoroughly Splendido.